-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- If director Ron Howard hopes religious controversy will help sell tickets to `` Angels & Demons '' the way it boosted his `` Da Vinci Code , '' the Catholic Church is not playing along with his script .

Tom Hanks reprises his role as professor Robert Langdon in `` Angels & Demons . ''

Howard , who premiered the follow-up in Rome , Italy , this week , said there was `` residual antagonism from ` The Da Vinci Code , ' '' but Vatican officials ignored the movie by not responding to suggestions that the church was offended .

The first movie based on Dan Brown 's mega-selling novels earned $ 750 million worldwide in 2006 .

`` The Da Vinci Code '' was intensely criticized by Catholics , especially those from the Opus Dei organization , a small but influential group within the Catholic Church whose members felt that they were vilified in the story .

An Opus Dei priest who teaches history and literature at Holy Cross University in Rome said that `` Angels & Demons '' has `` simply not been an issue '' among those in the Vatican and that any controversy is a product of the movie 's marketing machine . Watch Howard make his statements ''

`` To be honest , I do n't think that anyone at the Vatican is paying much attention to the premier of the ` Angels & Demons , ' '' Father John Wauck said . `` I was just talking with some people yesterday , I know friends of mine working in the Vatican , and they were surprised to learn that the movie was premiering in Rome . They had no idea . ''

`` I think the church 's attitude has been , from the beginning , ` hands off , ' '' Wauck said . `` Especially , I think , after what happened with ` The Da Vinci Code . ' ''

The new movie is not as offensive , Wauck said .

`` In ` The Da Vinci Code , ' there were serious issues , such as who Jesus Christ was or the nature of church in the course of history , but none of them is taken in ` Angels & Demons . ' It 's simply , you know , a thriller , '' he said .

The movie may even help Rome by promoting tourism there , which is `` not a bad thing , '' Wauck said .

But Howard suggested to CNN 's Neil Curry that controversy has carried over to the sequel .

`` I think there 's some residual antagonism from ` The Da Vinci Code , ' '' Howard said .

Stirring people up with controversy is `` something that appeals to me , '' he said .

`` Part of the entertainment value is that people are going to go in there and have something to talk about or think about afterward , '' he said .

Howard said he tried to reach out to the Catholic Church .

`` We 've even invited certain groups , members of the church , for example , to see early rough cuts , because I wanted to share it with them and know what they thought , and I felt they 'd find it not as offensive as they 'd imagine , '' he said . `` Everyone 's declined to do that . ''

Howard himself downplayed reports that Rome and Vatican officials hampered production by refusing permission to film in certain locations .

`` Probably a little more has been made of that , '' he said .

`` While I do n't want to reveal how we took people on the ` Angels & Demons ' tour and on the adventure , someday I might , maybe on the DVD or something , do a little better breakdown of how we got the shots we needed , '' he said .

Producers did resort to some `` low-budget street photography where you just pull up in a car , getting out of a van , clearing a little space and shooting a shot , '' Howard said .

This controversy , Wauck said , was also cooked up by the film 's marketing department .

`` As a general rule , no commercial films are filmed in churches in Rome , and no exception was made for ` Angels & Demons , ' '' Wauck said .

The film , which like `` The Da Vinci Code '' stars Tom Hanks as symbolism professor Robert Langdon , takes the audience inside the Conclave , where cardinals meet secretly to choose a new pope .

`` One thing that was important to me and to all of us was to be as authentic as we possibly could be about what Conclave was like , that period when they 're trying to elect the pope , '' Howard said . `` It 's a complete mystery . Outsiders are not allowed in . They stop rolling even their own Vatican archival footage when they lock the cardinals into the Sistine Chapel . ''

Set designers used old paintings and photos to recreate the scene , he said .

`` I wanted to represent for the audience that with as much detail as I did going to the moon with ` Apollo 13 , ' '' he said , referring to his 1995 movie about the aborted space mission .

`` Angels & Demons '' is the second of Brown 's Langdon novels Howard has turned into a film .

`` There are so many reasons to do it , and when I really looked at ` Angels & Demons ' and realized that it was going to feel different , '' he said . `` It was going to sound different . It was going to be paced in a completely different way because this is a real bona fide thriller . This is Langdon in jeopardy . There 's a ticking bomb . You know , it 's a murder mystery . ''

Howard said he will wait to decide whether he will make a movie based on Brown 's third Langdon novel .

`` While I have n't read Dan 's next installment of the Robert Langdon adventures , I 'm dying to , '' he said . `` I 'll also look to see how audiences respond to ` Angels & Demons . ' They 're going to tell us a lot . ''

`` Angels & Demons '' opens in U.S. theaters May 15 .

CNN 's Neil Curry and Hada Messia contributed to this report .

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`` Angels & Demons , '' new Ron Howard film , based on Dan Brown novel

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Brown 's `` Da Vinci Code '' was controversial book made into controversial film

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Howard believes Vatican holds grudge ; priest says Church barely aware of `` Angels ''